The Arisths Book One: The Beginning: Part 2
by John2
Summary: Terace has his first morphing experience!


The Arisths  
Book 1: The Beginning  
Part 2  
In case you don't know, the Escafil Device gave any individual who touched it the power to morph, to acquire and change into any animal. We ran onto the dome. There was a small gathering around the captain as he explained.  
...Just touch one side of the box and wait until it glows white. Only five of you can receive the technology at once.   
Hi Assinko. Hi Caroof. Hi Maheen. I said privately.  
Hey, Caroof turned his stalk eyes towards me. Over his shoulder I saw a creature 1/4 of my size. It was covered with reddish brown fur, had six legs and a long, prehensile tail. It had a rodent like head with a mouth filled with small, sharp teeth. It was a djabala; a creature that climbed trees to eat the uppermost leaves. In a cage, was a brown-feathered bird. It had a long hooked beak, no talons and a long curly tail. The bird used its beak to spear small animals. It was called a kaffit bird. Of all the three species of birds on our world, the kaffit was the best. The first group of arisths put their hands on the box. The captain's joined their hands. I didn't see what happened next but I heard the captain say:  
Now touch the djabala and concentrate. Okay good. You just acquired its DNA.   
The five of us were next. The captain told us the same thing he told the other arisths. We all touched one side of the cube Esgarrouth first, then me, then Assinko, then Maheen and finally Caroof. Just as Caroof touched the box, it glowed a blinding white.  
Then as quickly as it came the light disappeared. My fingers tingled but nothing else seemed to have happened.   
That was quick, I said. I barely felt anything.   
My fingers tingle. Esgarrouth said, looking at his fingers.  
Just then, the last groups of arisths were given the power.   
Now, The captain said, Each of you will touch the djabala. Just touch it and concentrate. By doing this you will acquire it's DNA strand.   
We all touched it. It went into some kind of a trance for ten seconds.  
Okay arisths, you must now picture the djabala and concentrate.   
I closed my eyes, like the other arisths around me. I pictured the djabala. I concentrated. I concentrated hard. I opened my eyes and waited. And then I began to morph. My arms grew short with my legs, making the six legs, and then...I was falling! My legs caught me- wait. My legs caught me? I realized that my hands had become paws at the ends of my front set of legs. There were tiny claws for climbing up trees. I turned my stalk eyes to look behind me.  
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaagggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!!!!  
My tail! It had burst into a clump of reddish brown fur; in fact, my entire body was turning red brown. I looked down at my main eyes. They moved across the side of my head. Suddenly, my eyestalks went black. My face bulged and a mouth, filled with tiny, sharp teeth came into view. I felt the instincts well up into me. They were very easy to control. I looked around. My view was distorted because of the position of my eyes. Everything was tinted red. I saw a derrishoul tree. I decided that would be the perfect test ground.  
FFWWWOOOOOOMMMM!  
I motored toward the tree! I was going so fast, it was hard to tell that my feet were hitting the grass.  
ZZZOOOOOOOOMMMM!  
Up the tree trunk! Straight up!   
Whoa! Hahahahahahaha! I started to laugh like a maniac. My heart was pounding in my chest.  
ZZZOOOOOOOOMMMM!  
I sped down the tree. And when I say down I mean down. I ran across the blue green grass!  
Hey Terace! This is great! Esgarrouth said enthusiastically.  
Terace! Esgarrouth! Follow me! Maheen shouted.  
Ha! Ha! Okay! I crowed.  
She raced towards a therant tree and ran up the pink bark. I followed her up onto a branch.  
Hey! Where'd you two go? Esgarrouth yelled across the dome.  
She raced to the end of the branch and leaped! I leaped! It was insane! I fell through space and landed hard on my feet!  
Wahoo!   
A hairy blur shot across my vision.  
Aaaaaaahahaha! Assinko laughed. He seemed to be having a good time.  
All right arisths, time to demorph. The captain ordered. We all started to emerge to our natural bodies, almost as if we knew how naturally. But Caroof wasn't changing.  
What's going on? What's wrong? He sounded frantic.  
Caroof, stay calm. Concentrate. Esgarrouth said.  
And then, Caroof slowly emerged.   
Thanks. I don't know why it took me so long.   
Well, the captain said. That was a good example. You see, there is a problem with morphing: If you stay in morph for more than two hours, you will be trapped.  
That was a shock to everyone. I mean just try to imagine being trapped as some animal.  
You can go now but anyone who wants an additional morph, stay.  
Five or six arisths left, but the rest of us were hungry for another morph. Hungry for another taste of the power. Of the miracle...and the curse. We didn't know it then, but this curse would plague my friends and I for the rest of our lives. But at that time, I didn't believe it could happen to any of us. But I was wrong. I would learn I was wrong in the worst possible ways.  
  
  



End file.
